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This is a great article from the Huffington post on which foods you should always buy organic. Eating healthy is not cheap. But these are the top food you need to spend those extra dollars on. Save the non-organic for items like melons and oranges that you will remove the outter skin before consuming. Eliminating chemicals from your diet is a must when eating healthy.

7 Best Foods to Buy Organic

By Caroline Young

While it may seem like the organic food movement became popular over the past two decades, it is actually a much older concept. Everyone ate organic fruits and veggies before World War II, because all crops were organic. It was after that when many farmers started “conventionally” growing crops: spraying them with new, synthetic pesticides and chemicals to reduce weeds, insects and rodents. Now many of us enter the produce section with some confusion, as we are offered every fruit and veggie grown in two very different ways.

What’s the Difference Between Conventional and Organic Foods?

Conventional foods differ from organics in several ways, including the use of chemical versus natural fertilizers (i.e., compost) to feed soil and plants. Conventional farmers also use synthetic herbicides to manage weeds, while organic farmers use environmentally generated plant-killing compounds. Therefore, organic produce has significantly fewer pesticide residues than conventional produce.

The USDA organic regulations also ban the use of food additives, processing aids, and fortifying agents found in conventional foods, like artificial sweeteners and coloring, preservatives and monosodium glutamate.

Global organic food sales have skyrocketed from a total of $1 billion in 1990 to $29 billion by 2011. However, those numbers only represent about 4.2 percent of all food sold in the U.S. during this time period. And as more and more people buy organic foods for their health benefits, these foods often get a bad rap for higher costs.

In the conversation over benefit vs. price, some studies reveal doubt around organic foods truly having significantly higher nutritional benefits than conventional foods. Despite the skeptics, there is a rising agreement in the scientific community that small amounts of pesticides and other chemicals have negative effects on health. Pregnant women and mothers should especially be aware because studies show fetuses and young children may be more negatively affected by harmful exposure to low levels of pesticides.

1) Potatoes

When deciding which foods to buy organic, potatoes are a must. Most conventionally-grown have one of the highest pesticide contents among fruits and veggies. The USDA discovered 81 percent of potatoes tested in 2006 contained pesticides even after being washed and peeled.

2) Beef

When animals are conventionally raised, they are fed growth hormones and medications to fight disease and speed growth, which inevitably end up in our hamburgers and our bodies. The hormones push cows’ estrogen and testosterone levels unnaturally high. In turn, those hormones can possibly have strong effects on our natural body processes. The European Union actually banned all hormones in beef. On the other hand, organic farmers try to match the natural behavior of animals and permit access to the outdoors. To reduce diseases, organic farmers take measures like rotational grazing, clean housing, and organic balanced diets with no animal by products.

Apple peel is one of this popular tree fruit’s healthiest parts, offering phytochemicals that can reduce risk of cancer and heart disease. Unfortunately, the peel is where pesticides accumulate, putting apples at the top of the organic foods priority list.

5) Strawberries

Do you wonder why the conventional strawberries sometimes appear a bit brighter in color than their organic counterparts? It’s because some of them are enhanced with a substance containing thecontaminant fungicide captan. Plus, conventional strawberries with the most pesticides are often the imported ones because pesticide restrictions are not always the same in other countries.

6) Kale and Spinach

While spinach and kale offer many nutrients with very low calories, they are often sprayed with more than 20 kinds of pesticides before being tossed in our salads and cooked in our omelets. A USDA studyfound 58 pesticide residues are usually contained in spinach.

7) Peaches

Peaches, while juicy and delicious, are high on the list of tree fruits for being the most susceptible to pesticide residue, and usually contain levels above the legal limits. Contaminants in peaches arefungicides captan and iprodione, which have been linked to cancer.

While it is beneficial to our health and planet to buy organic foods as much as possible, it can be hard to dole out the extra cash, especially during slower economic times. If it is just not in the budget, don’t fret. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that advocating for policies to both individual and global health, created a list of produce called the “Clean 15,” which are your safest choices. They have the smallest pesticide load and the safest conventional foods to consume. Some of the foods include mushrooms, pineapple, avocado, asparagus, and sweet potatoes.

Remember, it is important to keep plenty of fruits and veggies as part of a balanced diet, and not to sacrifice the benefits of eating fruits and veggies for the risk of pesticide exposure. Focus on going organic when it fits into your life, especially focusing on the foods you eat most often and high-pesticide foods, including BuiltLean’s top seven.

Method

Place all the ingredients, except any toppings, in a food processor or blender; blend until creamy. Alternatively, you can blend with a mixer or whisk.

Pour 2 tablespoons of batter into pancake-like circles onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each roll. Feel free to make larger rolls by adding another tablespoon or so. If the batter is thick you can spread it around a bit with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle with your chosen toppings and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls brown slightly on top. If you’re making larger rolls, they’ll take a few more minutes to brown and firm up sufficiently. Don’t be afraid to go a little brown with these—that will make them firmer and add a tasty crunch at the edges.

Slide a knife or spatula under each roll and remove to a cooling rack. Let cool completely, seal, and store in the refrigerator for a week or so or in the freezer for a few months.

Here in Southern Utah it’s PEACH season.

I happen to have an amazing neighbor that lets me pick my fill. So I had more than enough to spare when it came to making a tasty dessert. I’ve never been one for super sweet treats and it needed to be gluten free as well as egg free. In the end we all loved the final product.

I started with cleaning, pitting and slicing 7-10 large peaches and placing them in a deep pyrex dish. I then squeezed the juice of half a fresh lemon onto the peaches. Next I sprinkled them with cinnamon, and stirred in about 1/3 cup chopped raw pecans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crumb Topping:

!.5 cups almond flour

1/8 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 TBS coconut oil

1/4 cup raw honey

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup raw pecans chopped (optional)

Mix everything together. Drop by spoonfuls on top of sliced peaches. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. I suggest doubling the topping if you are making in a 9×13 pan. Drizzle chilled coconut milk over top just before serving. ENJOY.

Ingredients:

For the glaze:

1 TBSP cinnamon

2 TBSP pure maple syrup

1 TBSP coconut oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk and syrup. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour into muffin tins and drizzle glaze over each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

A huge concern of mine is all the “treats” or junk my children are offered at school. In a classroom of 24 kids with 24 birthdays celebrated in 9 months thats 2.7 birthdays a month. Thats blue frosting, high fructose corn syrup, chemicals, preservatives, sugar, and dyes offered to our kids usually without us knowing. It is also 23 celebrations my children cant participate in. Yes, I’m that parent, my kids say “No Thank You” and watch everyone else consume the dyes and chemicals. So this past year we tried to set an example to show that birthday celebrations do not need to revolve around the consumption of unhealthy treats. I am also trying to change the way our school handles these celebrations and school rewards, by eliminating “food” as treats and turning to prizes or treats that are not food of any sort. Yes, I could have sent fruit or veggies but I was trying to show that we can celebrate without eating something. These are the 3 treats my younger children took this past school year to celebrate their birthdays.

Lucy took jump ropes for each child in her class. She was turning 11 and was in 5th grade. They cost me $1.00 each. We attached a little poem to each one that read:

Hip Hip Hooray,

It’s Lucy’s birthday!

Lets all jump for joy,

because she got you this cool toy!

Thanks for celebrating her day,

now lets go outside and PLAY!

Charley was turning 9 and in 2nd grade. Charley took pins. These cost me about $.10 each.

Thank you for making my birthday out of the world.

Thank you for making my birthday ROCK!

Finnegan was turning 7 and in 1st grade. He gave everyone tubes of glow sticks. Cost $1.00 each.

Thanks for making my birthday CHEERY and BRIGHT!

My Children did not complain that they weren’t taking cupcakes or cookies. They also told me everyone was really excited to have something to take home. Yes we can all complain about the $1 toys and trinkets that clutter our homes but I would much rather have my house full of clutter than my children full of poisons and chemicals. We may not be able to change how everyone thinks but we can lead by example and show others their are alternatives.

Line a smaller (10″ x 15″) rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (Tip: Sprinkle the sheet with a few drops of water first to help keep the paper in place.) I have found my pampered chef stone bar pan works best.

Transfer batter to this cookie sheet and gently spread to all edges. Once entire sheet is covered, press batter firmly into the pan. You can use a large spatula or your hands for this step. To prevent the batter from sticking to your hands, wet your hands or place a sheet of parchment or wax paper between your hands and the batter before pressing. Pressing them in is key. I use my flexible cutting board under the spatula is the best.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. The bars are done when they just begin to turn brown at the edges. Don’t wait too long or they may burn. Bars will be moist and crumbly when removed from the oven, but they come together as they cool. (It may take a few attempts for you to figure out the best amount of time in your own oven.)

Let bars cool completely (about 90 minutes on a cooling rack; longer if you don’t have a cooling rack). Transfer bars and parchment paper to a cutting board and cut into 24 bars.

If you like your bars a little firmer and sweeter, store them in the fridge. They also freeze well for later use; and they can be eaten frozen as well if you forget to thaw them out.

Most granola bars are loaded with corn syrup, soybean oil, coloring and flavoring, and preservatives. These homemade bars are actually good for you and the perfect on the go snack.

Combine all wet ingredients (zucchini through honey) with electric mixer (or if you’re already using food processor, you can do it in there). Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in any additional nuts or raisins, if using.

Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 cup full and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.